Betty of the Giants
by Gulliver63
Summary: Spindrift crewmember Betty Hamilton ends up being part of an experiment where she is increased to the size of the giant residents of the planet. No mature subject matter or real violence.


**Betty of the Giants**

 **By Robert L. Fitzpatrick**

Betty watched in silence as the two giant SID officers walked by. She and her friends knew these two, as they made regular patrols through this part of the woods. They were SID regulars; police uniform, ties, hats, pistols in holsters. She even had names for the these two - Stutts, and his lankier, slower partner Garr. She knew this because Stutts constantly badgered poor Garr, and he silently took it in stride. Garr had seen her, though, and she was just hoping that he hadn't seen Fitzhugh.

"I saw her - the little blonde gal. I swear I saw her…"

"Where, Garr, where?"

"Well, by that rock. Or, maybe that one…"

This drew an angry look from his partner. "Garr, we've been going in circles...I hope you know that." Stutts took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his brow. "That idiot Kobick - I'm so tired of hunting around the woods for these people. C'mon Garr, we'll start another patrol at the park entrance." Betty chuckled silently as she watched the two towering figures walk away. She knew that they would meet up again sometime.

Betty Hamilton had foraged this trail scores of times with her friends, and had never really run into trouble. Life on this planet of giants had become a tedium of scrounging for food for the food processors on board the Spindrift; she was thankful that those devices kept working. But hunting for food, water, and various parts for the ship continued to be a necessity here. And with the summer heat wave, food was getting a little harder to find.

Betty liked this particular trail, as there was a small patch of dark blue berries at the end of it. It was sort of a secret place here in Winterton Wood - it was doubtful that the giants even realized it was here. As she neared the berry patch, she was acutely aware that Fitzhugh had fallen behind again...this was no real shock, as he wasn't in the shape that the other five were in. She wanted to call out to him, but there was always the risk of a giant being near. She decided to take shelter beneath a vine-like plant and wait for him; she couldn't see the open sky very well, but she couldn't be seen as well either. As she looked around at her surroundings, she truly felt like a little creature. She could easily be just a field mouse here on this huge planet.

Betty then heard the rumble of the giant voices high above her head. Were the two SID men back? No, the voices were different...maybe a bit older. A man and a woman. This was a casual conversation. The giants had no idea how far their voices carried across the woods.

But what of Fitzhugh? Fitz could be trying to get to her, but unable for fear of being caught. She cautiously pulled back a large leaf to see who the visitors were...the last giants she'd seen were birdwatchers in the park who were too busy scouting the sky to see her. These two towering figures seemed harmless enough - a middle-aged couple possibly studying butterflies in the park. Not too different than the neighbors she knew back home. Whatever it was they were looking for, it was on the ground and not in the sky.

Field Mouse Betty cowered in the shadows beneath the leaves - the giants were definitely coming her way. To run now would give her position away. To stay where she was was risky as well. She shook as she began to hear their conversation, which was obviously centered on her.

"Bera," said the male giant, "she came down this little trial here."

"There she is...don't frighten her, dear."

Staying put was no longer an option; she had to run. She only made it a few steps when the huge butterfly net landed around her. She made the futile attempt to run, but didn't make it far - the net was a barrier that she couldn't penetrate. As she lay there struggling, she watched the huge hand begin to wrap around her. She knew to roll up in a ball as the hand gently grasped her - she'd had this happen before, and hoped that this tactic would prevent her from being hurt. She tried to remain silent, but a shout of fear came out of her lips as she was lifted into the air.

The woman was the first to study her - she never got used to seeing that enormous eye staring in through the netting. For now it seemed, these two had no intention of harming her. But what were their intentions?

"Bixby, isn't she perfect? She'll work out well for the experiment."

Betty gulped with a dry throat. Experiment?

The massive eye turned its attention back to her again through the netting. It spoke to her in a soothing tone, which did nothing to ease the fear that coursed through Betty's body.

The woman spoke, and the words were directed at her. "We're going to go to sleep for a while, little one."

Betty struggled, but the woman's hand held her firm in the net. She then watched in horror as a large cotton ball was brought up to her face. Within seconds Betty's body went limp in the woman's hand as she blacked out.

Fitzhugh's heart fell to his shoes as he watched the giants walk away with Betty...he could do nothing to stop it.

Dr. Bixby Henning and his wife Bera pulled up next to their country cottage in their elderly Consolidated Cadet sedan. They took their precious cargo into their lab at the back of the house while they discussed the experiment.

"Bera, what do you think her reaction is going to be when she awakes?"

"I would think that this is what they'd want. They'll no longer be fugitives, but citizens among us. They'll get their lives back, and we'll reap the rewards of a successful experiment."

Bera gently placed the sleeping Betty on a medical table while her husband began turning on some machines.

"Get her ready for the experiment Bera - it'll take a minute to charge the beam."

Fitzhugh was nearly out of breath when he got to the others. Captain Burton questioned him about Betty.

"Garr and his buddy didn't get her, did they?"

"No...they left. They never found us. It was a man and a woman - some sort of researchers from what I could gather. They had capture nets and cages…"

Burton looked down at the ground. Then we don't have a clue where they took her. She's got her radio - let's just hope she can contact us…"

Betty slowly opened her eyes and found herself in what looked like a doctor's office. She sat up, and swung around her feet and stood up on the floor. She was wearing clothes and shoes, but they were not her own. The dress was a simple country affair, dark blue-green, and the shoes were canvas flats. Was this what the giants had talked about when they used the word "experiment?" Were they watching and listening, just beyond the wall? Were they waiting for her reaction to all of this?

She looked around the room. On a table stood a jar of cotton balls, a pen, and some medical books. If they were props, they were very real looking. She even opened one of the books and was surprised to see typewritten printing - this would have been very hard to duplicate.

Betty then sheepishly turned her attention to the doorway; would she encounter the face of one of the giants? To her surprise, what she found was a woman. It wasn't just any woman, but the very giant that had held her in her grasp not long before. She called to her husband.

"Bixby - she's awake. And in quite good health by the looks of it."

Betty looked down at the couple, as she was slightly taller than the both of them. "You...you are the couple I saw in Winterton Wood..."

"That we are, my dear. I'm Dr. Bixby Henning, and this is my wife Bera. And judging by you standing here, no worse for the wear. My experiment was a complete success."

Betty gave the two a strange look. "Do you mean...your experiment...I'm one of you?"

"That's correct. If you were home now, you'd be able to look into a 7th story window."

She looked down at her shoes, and then back up again. "But...but how?"

Bixby pointed over to what looked like a menacing beam weapon. "You're the first actual person I've tried it on...of course, people don't typically come in your miniature size. As your friends' fame spread across the land, this opportunity was too good to pass up."

"This is still so hard to believe…"

Bera walked over with a small plastic box. Inside was what looked like doll clothing. "These are your clothes dear."

Everything was there - the clothes and the boots would have been hard to replicate so well if this were trickery. Betty reached a hand in and tried to discreetly grab her two-way radio between her fingers; she quickly saw that she couldn't do this without being seen.

"You may have your radio; we won't keep it from you. As a matter of fact, we'd like to meet your friends."

Again she looked at Bixby cautiously. Even if all this were real, how did she know that these weren't just SID agents looking for the ship? "You mean I'm free to go?"

"Bera and I can't hold you against your will. But we would like to see your friends…"

"You understand why I'd like to meet them in the berry patch...that place where you caught up with me." She refrained from using the phrase "captured me."

"That would be most agreeable."

As Captain Burton folded the radio's antenna down, Valerie looked at him with concern. "Could this be a trap?"

"There's always a chance of that. And we'd be walking straight into it. But Betty's as good as lost if we don't at least try."

Dan offered an idea. "We ought to at least approach in two different groups."

"Sounds like a plan…"

As they climbed into his ancient car, they made small talk.

"You seem amazed, Betty. It's just a simple old car."

"It's the first time I've been in one in years where I haven't been in a shoe box or a cage."

Bera responded. "And you don't have to go back into those things...you can choose to live among us. I've got a sister that can set you up with a nice little job for the time being."

Betty then pointed to a store off the side of the road. Bixby noticed this.

"Oh, that's a V-mart - they're everywhere around Central City. Would you like to stop?"

Betty blushed. "It's just that I haven't eaten in a while. You don't mind, do you?"

"Why, of course not."

"But I don't have any money...at least not your money…"

Bixby grinned. "My dear, we captured you in a net; the least we can do is buy you something to eat."

As they walked into the store, Betty couldn't help but notice the SID squad car parked outside. Could this still be some sort of trap?

As Betty scoured the shelves, the Hennings couldn't help but notice an almost childlike enthusiasm that she displayed. She was interested in seeing everything. She pulled a small bag of Choco-crisps and proudly displayed it to them with a toothy grin.

Bixby grinned. "Yes, dear...Choco-crisps."

"The last time I had these it took two of us to carry the bag away."

"Buy two." Bixby pulled out his wallet. "This time you can carry them all by yourself."

She then ran across something else that made her laugh out loud. She held it up before her friends - it was a t-shirt showing the Earth people in a net and with lettering that read: "My friends saw the Little People, and all I got was this stupid t-shirt."

Bera chuckled and told her, "And it's just your size dear."

Again, Bixby reached for his wallet. "And you'd be the only one wearing it that actually has seen them. Do you want it?"

Betty gave a dismissive wave of her hand as she put the shirt back on the rack. "God, no."

The Hennings then noticed that Betty's attention was drawn away by someone - it was the two SID officers. She walked up to them cautiously, almost as if she were stalking some animal in the wild. The tall lanky one noticed her walking up while the shorter one continued to berate his friend.

"Do you ever not eat garbage food? My wife makes me eat healthy…"

Betty and Garr stared at each other for what seemed like ages. Betty struggled for something to say. This was an enemy, a giant that had pursued her and her friends for years. And now she was standing before a gaunt man who could be knocked to the floor with a good right cross.

Garr finally spoke to her. "Ma'am...do I know you?"

"You may have seen a little of me here or there. So...have you seen any of the 'Little People' lately?"

He looked down at his shoes as the question struck him as odd. He did answer it honestly, though. "Actually, no...but we do see them every once in a while…"

"Them...the 'Little People' - maybe they're not as bad as you guys think. Maybe they're just trying to find a way home. Maybe they just want to get by. Maybe they have families back where they came from..."

Garr returned a look of genuine interest in what Betty had said.

Stutts interrupted the conversation by grabbing Garr by the arm. He addressed Betty with a cheesy grin. "You'll have to excuse my friend, lady...he's not the brightest light bulb in the hardware store." As soon as he had Garr away from Betty, he began chewing on him with a loud whisper. "Do you know what Kobick would do if he caught you talking about that with a citizen? We'd never hear the end of it. If you want to chitty-chat with the ladies, that's fine. But don't talk about _that_ subject. You got me?"

Betty frowned. She felt like he was at least willing to listen if his partner had let him.

The Hennings caught up with Betty. "Friends of yours?"

"In a roundabout sort of way - let's just say we've met. Anyway, we'd better get going."

In the berry patch Captain Burton and Eric waited for Betty. They smartly had the others wait back out of sight, just in case things went south on them. They would at least have a shot at getting back to the ship safely if it were some sort of trap. As the two heard Betty's voice in the distance, he made a hand motion to Eric. The sound of the approaching footfalls were of no doubt from a giant. Could they be Betty's captors? Was she being brought to them? She then called out for him.

"Captain Burton…"

There was no trace of panic in the voice. Again...was this a trap?

Above the tall cycad trees a giant arose; its shadow moved forward to where the two Spindrift crew were waiting. As it stood there, the two could hardly believe their eyes - it was the tall blonde figure of Betty. At her sides and just behind her were two giants that they didn't know.

"Steve...Eric…"

"We're here…"

Betty was now about 70 feet tall. The two came out from their hiding spots, fairly confident that they weren't going to be trapped. Betty came down on a knee, sympathetic to how the Earth people might view her. She also kept her voice lower. "You're never going to believe what happened. Well...what do you think?"

Steve looked at her incredulously. "What in the world did they do to you?"

"I ended up being part of an experiment. I'm now the size of one of them. I literally woke up this size."

The others from the Spindrift came out to see their friend, who now towered over them. Val walked up to her, and literally stood in her shadow. "This is unbelievable."

The two other giants were delighted to see the lot of them, but kept their silence.

Betty lowered the palm of her hand and Val climbed into it. She carefully lifted her friend up a few dozen feet above the ground and chuckled. "I never thought I'd be doing this with one of you guys."

Valerie jokingly sat in her hand like it was a large couch. "It's real enough…"

Barry came up to her. "Do you have room for another passenger?"

Betty gently lifted Barry up and sat him next to Valerie like a toy.

"The best part about it," Betty added, "is that all of you can join me. We can all have a night on the town to celebrate. We won't have to live out in the woods anymore."

Steve got a strange look on his face. "Betty, this is amazing and all, but the rest of us were sort of hoping for that big homecoming party when we get back to Earth."

Fitzhugh stepped forward. "Speak for yourself, Captain...maybe some of us would like to join Betty in this new world."

Dan Erickson gave Fitz a mock look of annoyance. "What would you do in this world anyway as one of them?"

"Why, I'll have you know that I'd take my rightful place on the stage as an actor." He then saw Dan repressing a chuckle, and he looked down. "Besides, I have too many people that want my hide hanging on a wall back home. It'd be a chance to start over…"

Dan let out his chuckle. "Fair enough."

Mark then weighed in. "Aside from what Fitz is saying, what if it's a good survival option? What if we never make it home? These people could be offering us the only logical option for our future. Do we just grow old here, burying the ones who go before us, or do we at least get to live out some sort of normal life? We need to think about the future."

Valerie looked up at her now gigantic friend. "That's a tough argument. One thing's for sure - whatever we do, we have to all go in can't have some of us going off to enjoy a new life while the others live out their lives in the woods like mice."

Betty's hand went back down to the ground and Val hopped off. "But what do you think, Valerie?"

She looked up at her friend. "I think we've got to talk about this...as a group." She then looked up at the other giants, who'd held their peace all this time. "You folks understand…"

Bera answered. "We understand perfectly. We want to offer this, but we don't want to force it on you. You are free to choose. If you do accept the offer, Bixby and I will do everything in our power to get you started on your new life."

Bixby then spoke. "I agree with your captain dear. We should eat lunch while your friends discuss this. We can come by later if you'd like, or even stop by tomorrow and discuss how we'll proceed."

As Betty got ready to leave with her friends, she gave the Spindrift crew a gentle wave with her fingers. "I catch up with you guys later."

As Fitzhugh watched the giant figure of Betty walk away from them, he looked glum.

"Just the thought of all that food...mine for the taking."

Captain Burton just shook his head. "Come on, actor of star and stage, we've got a town meeting to start."

Betty was silent all through lunch at the little roadside diner they'd stopped at. Her mind seemed to be a million miles away; the older couple, however, knew where her mind was - it was back home on Earth.

"You're thinking about your family, aren't you?"

Betty looked up at her. "Yes...if there is even a chance that I could see them again, I'd rather try than pass it up." He looked at Bixby's eyes. "You understand, don't you?"

He breathed out a sigh. "I'm a bit disappointed. But, if nothing else, you've confirmed that my experiment was a complete success. And, like we said, we just want the best for you."

Bera added something. "And, if you and your friends ever want to take us up on our offer, it still stands."

Captain Burton and his friends waited patiently for Betty at the berry patch. They scanned the skies for her, waiting for the familiar sounds that a giant makes as they plod through the woods.

"She said she'd be here," said Fitzhugh.

Burton motioned for him to be quiet as he heard something approaching. Instead of a giant casting a shadow on them, Betty came through the brush in her familiar outfit and boots. Steve gave her a subdued smile. "I see you've made your choice."

Betty bit her lip. "I really wanted to take them up on their offer, but you had a good point. And if we're not all in on this thing, I can't go through with it."

Val greeted her. "At any rate, it's good to have you back. We all need to get going before it gets dark."

It was a sunny afternoon when Betty and her friends found the box in the berry patch. Betty carefully lifted up the cardboard lid and peeked inside.

Fitz stood anxiously waiting for the report. "Well, well, don't keep us waiting…"

"There's some candy, a small section of summer sausage wrapped up, and it looks like some medical supplies in the bottom."

Fitz made a mock gesture of bliss. "You have nice friends, Betty."

"They promised they wouldn't forget us out here.

While the others admired their treasures, Steve carefully scanned the skies. "Guys, I hate to break this party up, but someone's coming."

Barry shook his head. "Not Tweedledum and Tweedledum…" Steve put a finger up to his lips and motioned him into the brush.

The rest of the Earth people took shelter as Betty watched the two SID officers come into view. As Garr came in close, his friend Stutts called to him.

"Do you see them? Are they over there?"

In a loud whisper, Steve called to Betty. "Get over here - he can see you!"

As Garr got closer, he suddenly recognized the tiny blonde Earth woman. He lifted his hand to grab her, but then froze.

Betty looked up at the giant. "You can do what you want with me, but leave my friends alone."

Garr just stood there like a stone, blinking his eyes.

"Garr, do you see them? I haven't got all day..."

Garr stood up. "No. I thought I saw something over here, but I was wrong. It must have been a reflection."

Betty gave him a casual wave, and went back to join her friends as Garr nodded his head. "Thanks, Garr…"

"Garr, all that junk food is making your brain soft. Are you an idiot or something?"

Garr looked at his friend. "I keep thinking about that lady in the store, the tall blonde gal. What if she was right? What if the Little People don't mean us any harm? What if they're just trying to get by?"

"Are you nuts?"

"No, I am not nuts. Maybe she had a point. And I'd appreciate you not calling me that."

Stutts just looked at his partner. "Maybe you aren't nuts after all..I've had thoughts like that sometimes. But don't be spouting that nonsense around the station - this is too easy a paycheck to blow out the window with some nutty talk like that." He tapped his friend on his shoulder. "Hey, how about lunch - I'm buying."

"Yeah...okay."

Garr glanced back and he could see the little Earth people hauling off a tiny cardboard box. He never said another word about seeing them, or the strange woman in the store - no one would have believed him.

Stutts tapped his buddy on the arm. "Garr my friend, I'm going to introduce you to a healthy meal…"


End file.
